Good Bye

1 Time is but a silent river,
Rushing, on to meet the sea,
Where the years now gone forever
Make the great eternity;
All along the shady borders,
And beneath the changing sky,
Floating on the fitful breezes,
Comes a plaintive, sad, Goodbye,
Good bye, Goodbye,
Comes their plaintive, sad, Goodbye!

2 Little boats, all decked with flowers
Glide like sunlight down the stream,
'Neath life's green and fragrant bowers.
Passing like an angel's dream,
Fill'd with happy little children,
Happier far than you and I,
While amid their shouts of laughter,
Floats that plaintive, sad, Goodbye,
Goodbye, Goodbye,
Floats their plaintive, sad, Goodbye!

3 Boats that flash with youthful splendor,
Laden with the young and fair.
Youthful hearts, unseared and tender,
Flashing eyes and golden hair,
Now go bouding down the current,
Scarcely dreaming of a sigh,
While upon the fragrant zephers,
Floats that plaintive, sad, Goodbye,
Goodbye, Goodbye,
Floats their plaintive, sad, Goodbye!

4 Barks are gliding, on the billows
Of the wind-beruffled tide,
'Neath the shade of drooping willows,
Hugging close the other side,
laden with the aged Pilgrims,
Who, with dim and tearful eyes,
Listen calmly to the music
Of those plaintive, sad, Goodbyes,
Goodbye, Goodbye,
Of their plaintive, sad, Goodbyes!

5 All along the restless river,
Far as God's own eye can see,
Heavy-laden lifeboats quiver,
Crowding to eternity,
While upon the gliding waters,
And along the changing sky,
From the morn to life's dark even,
Sounds the plaintive, sad, Goodbye,
Goodbye, Goodbye,
Sounds the plaintive, sad, Goodbye!

Source: The Evergreen: songs for the Sunday school, sanctuary and home circle #126